Walk-in clinics and laboratories: another option in health care.

• Author: Campbell, Melissa

Rufina Clark cut her hand recently while at work. She thought she had only one option in a place to go for stitches. Her regular doctor doesn't do that kind of work. That left a hospital emergency room, which, she said, can be pretty expensive and she could easily be there for hours waiting to see someone. As Clark was about to succumb to the norm and head for the ER, her boss at Alaska Women's Health Services Inc. gave her another idea: go the urgent care clinic at Primary Care Associates.

Urgent care clinics offer walk-in service for minor emergencies and illnesses, another option when seeking medical care when your regular physician isn't available or if you don't have one.

Clark walked into the clinic, located on the first floor of the new medical building on Anchorage's Lake Otis Parkway, and was stitched up in no time. The total cost was a fraction of what a hospital emergency room charges and Clark was out the door in less than two hours, she said.

As with many industries in today's world, the health care field is working to provide more options to busy people. One is through walk-in clinics, many of which have longer hours through the week and are open on weekends, allowing people to obtain health care more on their time schedules, not just when the doctor has an opening.

Another option is walk-in laboratories. These labs offer blood, urine and other tests without a doctor's order, and they give the results to the patient.

Most insurance companies pay for the blood work at such labs and pay typical fees for walk-in clinics.

CLINICS

Going to the doctor is not at the top of the list of fun things to do for most people, whether they need an annual checkup or are sick. And, it seems, illness comes at the most inopportune times, like when your regular doctor is booked, on vacation or his/her office is closed for the day. Then there are the weekend mishaps: one of the kids falls off the playground monkey bar and hurts her arm or dad pulls a muscle mowing the lawn.

Extended evening and weekend hours at walk-in clinics allow would-be patients an option over emergency room visits.

Most clinics offer many of the same services for minor emergencies one finds in a typical hospital emergency room, such as access to labs and X-rays, as well as tests for lung capacity, hearing and vision. A few days after treatment, the patient often gets a call from the clinic, asking how they are feeling. And if the patient has a regular doctor, the clinic may...